


Fallin' For You

by AshToSilver



Category: Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Genre: M/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-05
Updated: 2014-03-05
Packaged: 2018-01-14 14:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1270078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshToSilver/pseuds/AshToSilver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This clown, was not so lucky.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fallin' For You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chvckles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chvckles/gifts).



> Promptfill for skullscoliosis on Tumblr.
> 
> Almost regret the title. _Almost_.
> 
>  **EDIT Aug/2016:** I have changed my username, I am now going by AshToSilver on AO3 and [my new Tumblr](http://ashtosilver.tumblr.com/)! You can still call me Alex, but I no longer have a day of the week in my name.

The first time Bruce meets the Red Hood, it’s this sort of hurried, in-between thing. One moment it’s one way, the next they’re all over the place and there are people to catch and he doesn’t  _think_.

The Hood, of course, doesn’t know that he knows this face. Oh sure, the masked man keeps out of line of sight and the one moment in the middle of everything where Bruce catches a flash of his unmasked face, the clown -  _of course its a fucking clown, it’s always a fucking clown_ \- just looks away.

But it’s not the look of someone who’s been caught, it’s the look of someone who’s  _ashamed_.

The second time - and this one is a bit more complicated, but whatever -  there’s a lot more time for him to pause, consider the man before him.

The Red Hood keeps to himself. And Bruce doesn’t blame him, he’s  _seen_ the monstrosity that is his double in this universe. But at the same time…

Everything about the Hood is hidden. He doesn’t take off his  _gloves_  for crying out loud.

So, when their mission goes a little sour and the man ends up rolling around, a bit winded and bleeding  _a lot_ , Bruce takes his chance.

The man’s almost asleep by the time they’re back at their temporary little hideout, but he still hasn’t relaxed. Bruce can feel every muscle in his body readying for an attack as he half-carries the man to a bed.

But he’s barely there and that gives Bruce the advantage he needs. The Hood’s off before the yelp of surprise can even bypass the not-clown’s lips and  _then-_

Acid green eyes look at him with sheer terror. It’s his Joker’s face - same down to the  _cheekbones_  for crying out loud, the shape of the eyes, the overlapping teeth, except instead of a smile, this one’s opening his mouth in something that looks like a  _scream-_

And that’s when Bruce notices the scars.

His clown, his Joker, had been submerged  _entirely_ , so deep down that every single hair on his arms had been dyed green, and everything from the flesh on his sculpt to the skin between his toes had become paper white.

This clown, was not so lucky. It had to have been partial, because the white is worse on the left cheek, then fades outwards, over the left eye and around the mouth and onto the ear. The hair on that side of the face is green, going all the way back to the skull.

Around the edges, the transition from white to tan is littered with burns, blurred, red, thick and  _old_. And not just chemical - but heat burns. Even the eye on that side looks a little unclear, like it’d been damaged.

The Hood’s heart beats faster, and he looks completely  _devastated_.

"Say it." He mutters, not looking at Bruce, not looking  _anywhere_. “I’m a freak.”

"I’ve seen far, far worse." Says Bruce, and the not-clown blinks at this. _  
_

"You haven’t."

"You’re not the first man this has happened to." And Bruce goes about stitching up his wounds, while the Red Hood mulls this over.

And Bruce plucks off the gloves, off the jacket and the shirt, sees how the burns crawl all the way up and down his left arm. The flesh is rippled from a heat long since past, and even as Bruce wipes grit and dirt out of wounds, the man still tries to curl away.

"How can you  _stand me_?” Comes the miserable question after a moment.

And Bruce pauses only then. Drops a bloodied towel on the floor, and cups the Red Hood’s face, even as he tries to pull away.

"Because, you are stronger then the rest." Bruce whispers. "Because you are a  _good man_.”

And he kisses him, scarred mouth or not.


End file.
